Lisbon, Aug. 14, 2025 (Lusa) - The number of passengers handled at Portugal’s airports rose by 4.8% to 34.480 million in the first half of the year, compared with the same period in 2024, with the United Kingdom as the main country of origin and destination for flights.
According to the rapid air transport statistics published on Thursday by the National Statistics Institute (INE), the United Kingdom recorded increases in the number of passengers disembarked (+2.9%) and embarked (+2.5%) compared with the same period in 2024.
France and Spain ranked second and third as the main countries of origin and destination.
In the first half of the year, Lisbon Airport handled 50% of all passengers (17.2 million), a 3% increase compared with the same period in 2024.
Faro Airport registered a 7% rise in passenger traffic (4.6 million, 13.4% of the total), while Porto Airport accounted for 22.9% of all passengers handled (7.9 million), representing an increase of 5.5%.
Between January and June, air transport of cargo and mail grew by 2.6%.
Looking solely at the month of June, 7.1 million passengers and 21,100 tonnes of cargo and mail were handled at national airports, corresponding to increases of 5.9% and 4%, respectively, compared with June 2024, following growth of 5.7% and 8.1% in the previous month.
That month saw an average daily disembarkation of 118,800 passengers, higher than the roughly 113,000 recorded in June last year, representing an increase of 5.2%.
In June, 82% of passengers disembarking at national airports were on international flights, totalling 2.9 million passengers (+5.3%), the majority arriving from mainland Europe (68.1% of the total), representing growth of 4.6% compared with June 2024.
The American continent was the second-largest source, accounting for 9.7% of all passengers disembarked (+8.6%).
As for departing passengers, 81.9% were on international flights, amounting to 2.9 million passengers (+7.2%), of whom 68.2% were heading to airports in mainland Europe (+6.3% compared with June 2024).
Airports in the Americas were the second most popular destination for departing passengers (9.4% of the total, +12.3%).
MPE/AYLS // AYLS
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